LEGAL BEAT: CELTICS PASS ON WALL STREET JOURNAL LIBEL SUIT

While Celtics Chair Paul Gaston "threatened" a little
over three years ago "to sue the Wall Street Journal after
the newspaper suggested drug abuse and team negligence may
have contributed to the death of Reggie Lewis," the statute
of limitations has expired, according to Peter May of the
BOSTON GLOBE. The statute of limitations for libel in MA is
three years, and the three-year anniversary of the Journal
article "passed quietly" last week. Gaston: "[A]s much as I
hate the fact that some injustices go unpunished, I decided
that this was one that was going to get away" (GLOBE, 3/18).
ROCKETS: The Rockets "have been alerted to the
possibility of legal action" by two former employees and
three current employees who are charging that members of
Rocketball Ltd. "engaged in race discrimination, violations
of the Fair Labor Standards Act and sexual harassment,"
according to Eddie Sefko of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The team
received a letter from the attorney representing the five
complainants. The letter seeks a $2.5M settlement "to keep
the group from filing a civil action suit against the
organization." Last year, Rocketball Ltd. had 51 minority
employees out of a total of 160 (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/18).